


Miss me? Find me.

by LaNarratrice



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fix-It, John wears the coat, M/M, No Mary Morstan, POV John Watson, Post-Reichenbach
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-05-27 09:24:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15021581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaNarratrice/pseuds/LaNarratrice
Summary: John comes back to 221b for the first time after Reichenbach. He realizes that Sherlock might still be out there.A rewriting of the Sherlock & Faith scenes in The Lying Detective as if they happened to John.Johnlock only implied, still a romantic ending.





	1. Miss me?

A week since the funeral. Mycroft had told a story of their childhood, about the East wind finally taking Sherlock, and John had said that the game was over, although part of him still hoped for a miracle.

Now John was back in 221b for the first time, having to face the empty armchair, the empty shelves. Mycroft’s spooks had been cleaning, taking away Sherlock’s belongings for inspection, every book, every file, every essay Sherlock had written, his computer, his phones. John’s room was almost as empty. He was glad to find the walking cane, as his leg was killing him.

He found a bottle of Scotch in the kitchen.

Mycroft had said they would bring back as much as possible, and indeed a couple of boxes were on the desk. He glanced at the contents : maps of London, a few books, John’s old Bible, a gift from his late mother. He took it from the box. How would that help ? He knew what Sherlock would say about God : «a ludicrous fiction dreamt up by inadequates», yet he needed an invisible magic friend right now, and a couple of glasses of Scotch. Should he read about Job, the man who had lost everything but kept his faith in his magic friend ?

Hours later, he gave up any hope of finishing a single sentence, realizing he had been staring blankly at the pages, anyway it was too dark in the room and the letters just seemed to dance like fireflies before his drunken eyes.

He grabbed his walking cane and slowly made his way downstairs. As he struggled with the doorknob, Mrs Hudson came out of her flat.  
«John, I didn’t know you were in, I couldn’t see any light upstairs. You’re going out ? You’re in no state, look at you. »  
He hadn’t bothered to shave for days and now remembered he had left his jacket on the back of a chair upstairs, he couldn’t face climbing the stairs with that leg.  
He noticed the familiar coat on the rack. He could almost picture Sherlock’s dark curls above the collar. He felt the urge to wrap himself up in the coat. Mrs Hudson made no comment.

At the end of Baker Street he hesitated. People, traffic. When his phone started ringing, he didn't need to look at the screen to know who it was. «Mycroft, I’m trying to sleep », he lied, perfectly aware of the surveillance camera above his head. « I know you’re wandering about like a fool. I made a promise, Sherlock asked me to look after you. »  
«I don’t want you to. »  
« Well Sherlock does…He did. »  
« I’m just taking a walk, I need some fresh air. »  
He found that bench on the bank of the Thames, where they used to sit sometimes after a walk, one of the rare spots with no CCTV.  
He threw his gun into the river.  
Then he must have blacked out.

He woke up in 221b, on the couch.  
« Coffee ? »  
« You passed out. They found your address, they brought you here. »  
He gratefully took the mug Mrs Hudson was offering, but soon hurried to the bathroom to be alone and think about yesterday’s events. Mycroft had said something weird, what was it ? Sherlock does. Wrong tense, Sherlock might have said.  
It was probably nothing. 

Also there was something strange about that book. Maybe he had hallucinated it, still, he had to check. He got out of the shower, put on a dressing gown, picked up the Bible in the sitting room. Nothing special about it. Remembering he was trying to read in the dark last night, he looked for a black light.  
Still nothing special in the first chapters. _People always give up after three _. He went on, and there they were, luminescent spots highlighting specific letters : M,I,S,S, M,E.__

____

____

Sherlock had left a message.


	2. John's plan

The plan required a clown, chemicals, a deerstalker, breaking and entering, not getting shot or arrested : the usual, only without Sherlock.  
…

Mycroft was being chased by a clown, which left John a few minutes to find what he came for: Mycroft’s laptop, Sherlock’s phone. It was surprisingly easy. Then he turned off the desk lamp so the room was only lit by the blue laptop screen, he turned the swivel chair so as not to face the doorstep where a terrified Mycroft appeared : « Sherlock, help me ! » John took off the deerstalker. « So you know he’s alive, and you really are terrified of clowns ».  
« It was you?! All of this was you?! »  
« And my friend from the homeless network. »  
John handed the clown a few banknotes and showed him out.  
With the clown out Mycroft quickly regained composure.  
«Let’s sit down. I need a drink. The dripping blood was a chemical reaction. »  
« Yes, a phenolphtalein indicator exposed to a sodium carbonate solution, a common prank among medical students. »  
« A diversion while you looked for the phone. Yet you know I can’t let you take it. »  
« It’s already gone, it was between the notes I gave the clown. I may also have erased a file on your computer. »  
« It’s password protected. »  
John smiled. « Yes, Lady Bracknell .»  
Mycroft rolled his eyes. « How did you know what file to erase ? »  
« When Sherlock was a boy, one of his first experiments went horribly wrong. You helped him hide the dog’s body, but after that you had him under your grip by regularly threatening to tell your parents. The dog’s name was Redbeard. So whatever incriminating data you had on Sherlock or me would be likely to be filed under that name .»  
« You’ve been very thorough. What else do you know ? You said you were unaware of the meaning of IOU, the letters he wrote on the back of the phone. It isn’t the passcode, I tried it unsuccessfully. »  
« You’re an idiot. It was never an O, it was a heart. One of the weakest passwords ever, and you couldn’t figure it out because it never occured to you that Sherlock, the brain without a heart, the calculating machine, could choose love as a password ».  
Mycroft closed his eyes and sank his head into his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next: You know where to find me.

**Author's Note:**

> Coming next: John vs Mycroft.


End file.
